When the LORD your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword.
Parallel translations
- WEB When Yahweh your God delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword;
- KJV And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:
- NKJV And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword.
- NASB When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword.
- NLT When the Lord your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When God gives such a city into Israel's hand, the men who waged war are to be struck down. Combatants faced the consequences of choosing war.
Overview
Upon conquering a resistant distant city, Israel was to put its fighting men to the sword. This was directed at those who had chosen battle, not indiscriminate slaughter, as the next verse shows. It reflects the seriousness of God's justice in war while still distinguishing combatants from non-combatants.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 2:6–12“I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”
- Num 31:17–18So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
- 1 Kgs 11:15–16Earlier, when David was in Edom, Joab the commander of the army had gone to bury the dead and had struck down every male in Edom.
- Ps 110:1A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
- Num 31:7–9Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
- 2 Th 1:7–9and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels
- Luke 19:27And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”
- Ps 21:8–9Your hand will apprehend all Your enemies; Your right hand will seize those who hate You.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 20:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.